Novo Cemetery

The Novo Cemetery is a Grade II listed[1] Sephardic Jewish cemetery located within the grounds of Queen Mary University of London in Mile End in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Opened in 1733, it is one of only two exclusively Sephardic cemeteries left in England.

Novo Cemetery
The Novo Cemetery in 2017
Details
Established1733
Location
Mile End, London, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates51.524°N 0.038°W / 51.524; -0.038
TypeSephardic Jewish
Designations
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameThe Novo Cemetery
Designated11 April 2014
Reference no.1416421

History

England's first Jewish cemetery, called the Velho Cemetery, was built on a small plot of land in Mile End in 1657. As the nearby Jewish community grew in size, and the Velho began to fill up. By 1726, it was nearly full, so land for a second, larger Sephardi cemetery, the Novo Cemetery, was leased, with the first burials taking place in 1733.[1][2]

By 1895 the cemetery was almost full, and it was closed for burials for adults in 1905 and for children in 1918. Historic England added it to the register of listed buildings in 2014, as a Grade II.[3]

Notable people

One of the most notable people buried in the cemetery is the Rabbi and Kabbalist Shalom Buzaglo, also known as the "Mikdash Melech." He was born in Marrakesh, Morocco and raised in southern Morocco, which was then a kabbalistic center. He fled persecution by the sultan and settled in London, where he wrote and published numerous works on kabbalah, including the first systematic commentary on the Zohar.

Notable interments

See also

References
  1. Historic England (11 April 2014). "The Novo Cemetery (1416421)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  2. Christiansen, Siri (20 February 2020). "The Novo Cemetery: a landmark of Jewish history hidden in plain sight". Roman Road London. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  3. "Novo Cemetery: East London's Secret Jewish Burial Ground". Look Up London. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
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